- no pop or juice: a major source for [empty] calories. i was addicted to pepsi and indulged in juice more than i should have, so for me, there was no moderation. this was more difficult than i expected at first, but i started off substituting crystal light (and the sometimes more delicious target and walmart varities) but very quickly realized that water could be delicious. my secret? buying a new water bottle that i thought was cute and chic! i use it at work, when i work out, even when i travel! now i drink at LEAST 2-3 30 oz containers a day (more if i work out).
- workout at least 3 times per week: i am a wife and mother and have a 3hr round trip commute to and from work most days, so i don't have the luxury of working out everyday. my husband works and goes to school full time, i want my daughter to go to bed at a decent hour, and i need my sanity (read: sleep). while i strive to workout as many days as a can, i do force myself to get the gym at least 3 times a week.
- workout like i'm with a trainer: i have never actually had a personal training session, but i can see why they are tremendously valuable. i will observe other people's sessions and try to imitate the things that they do in terms of exercises and workouts that i don't think about doing. what's more important, however, is that i push myself in my workouts. the old me used to walk at a moderate pace for 30 minutes, do some light weights, and call it a great work out. NO WONDER i wasn't losing any weight! i was at a plateau before i had even started! now, i push myself harder than i think i can go. if i'm not breathing hard or sweating, i haven't pushed it to the limit. i make sure that i up my resistance/speed/weight/level on whatever machine/exercise i'm doing at least once per week...if i find its too difficult - i simply do intervals to alternate between my max and something more comfortable. that's supposedly better for weight loss anyway. i also make sure that my cardio is at least 45min-1hr. i want my body working as hard as it can for as long as it can. i'd love to do the 4 hr workouts that i see on "biggest loser" or mtv's new "i used to be fat", but remember - i have a real life. i WISH i had 4 hrs a day to workout. also, its not exactly a maintainable lifestyle.
- stop acting like a fat girl: this will be different for every thickums out there, but for me, there were a few simple things. be more active, stop buying junk food for the family, no more movie theater food. the first two are probably obvious, but they are not always easy to do...especially when you have to buy groceries for a family. its one thing to limit your own food choices - but i realized that my family would benefit as well. and now we're all healthier for it. the movie theater food was a realization for me even though we don't go to the movies often. when i was growing up, we NEVER ate movie theater food, mostly because it was expensive and there were 6 of us. my husband introduced me to large cherry pepsi's and hot dogs and i grew hooked! i realized though, we were being the fat people at the movie theater. some people are happy being fat and fabulous - i am not. i started by moving to smaller sized drinks and no food, and now i am movie theater food free!
outside of these specific things, not acting like a fat girl meant no more free refills on beverages (except water), no more extra deserts, and MORE salads. i had always been averse to salad because i thought it was a side dish, but once i began to explore ways to make my own salads good (avocados, corn, etc. <-- ie things that I LIKE), i discovered that salads can be amazing AND healthy (salad spritzer instead of dressing PLEASE!).
- all in moderation: what's just as important as what i am doing, are the things that i am NOT doing. i am not doing a low carb, high protein diet. i am not drinking diet sodas instead of regular. i am not doing anything temporarily...i am changing my lifestyle, so it has to be something that i can manage given the constraints and realities of my life... i AM occasionally having a sangria (or 3!) or going out to eat with my husband for our anniversary. the difference is, i know think differently about food and don't even eat as much as i used to. no seconds for me, drink water before and after the meal...and i'm usually good.
- weight watchers: the remix: as i mentioned, i have lots of friends who do weight watchers. i like to call mine the spirit of weight watchers. here's what i think about every day:
- drink lots of water (read 2-3 30 oz containers each day)
- fresh fruits and vegetables are 0 points (this is from points plus!)
- eat breakfast each morning
- log your meals each day - i don't do this anymore, because i have a pretty good sense of how my food intake has changed...but i may start back up for the sake of the blog and to stay on top of my game. its more helpful than you realize in terms of understanding how much you eat and how many calories those items are. i recommend getting an app for your smartphone that calculates the calories so you can see how many calories you consume/burn versus how many you are allotted for weight loss.
there are several more things that i've done to be successful, but i'll share those as we go....the bottom line is this. i weighed 202 lbs january 15 and now weight 188 lbs on april 8. while a part of me does not feel comfortable sharing my weight, i am VERY comfortable sharing my weight loss, and for the sake of transparency, i want to show you that it can be done. and i was ALWAYS the biggest skeptic out there. my intermediate goal is 170 by august 2011 and as you can see, i am WELL on my way. i hope you'll find something useful in my experience.
sorry for all the spelling errors. i'm usually much better than that. i promise going forward my blogs will be easier to read!
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